Putting Gatorskins Back On

I got my first flat in over 3400 miles yesterday, and I'm having a difficult time putting my Gatorskins back on the rim. My hands are too raw from trying for so long, so I'll bring it to a shop if I can't get it tomorrow.

Has anyone else had this problem or does anyone have any tips?

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on June 24, 2012 at 2:29am

I love the timing of this thread as I have a rare flat and a difficult to mount tire. I'm gonna go do it now.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Willis on June 24, 2012 at 5:32am

The best way I found is the soap and duel lever method. It works but is still not easy. On particularity stubborn (brand new) Gators I will cheat and use a hair dryer on low to slowly warm the tires. it is slow going but works well.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 24, 2012 at 5:59am

LOL -was "duel" levers an intentional pun? Doing battle with the tires mano a mano is more like it.

The first rule of tire fight club...

If it is hot out, laying the tires out on the hot black asphalt for a few minutes to warm up helps a LOT.

Joe Willis said:

The best way I found is the soap and duel lever method. It works but is still not easy. On particularity stubborn (brand new) Gators I will cheat and use a hair dryer on low to slowly warm the tires. it is slow going but works well.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 24, 2012 at 6:29am

Yes, but us is much less important to not pinch a tube you are removing to replace.

James BlackHeron said:

Using a lever to put on a tire without the necessary feel and experience of having done it many times will greatly increase the chances of pinching the tube. But I don't think it is any greater than taking the tire off with a lever. Both are equally likely to snag the tube if you don't know what you are doing.

Installing tube-type motorcycle tires has to be done with levers. Once you learn how to do it without snagging the tube it's a snap for a bicycle tire. But a rim-jack is even better.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 24, 2012 at 8:40am

Replace tubes? Why do that when patching is just as good...

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on June 24, 2012 at 9:36am

Patching is better, as a patch provides a little extra protection at the point of a puncture, which can become a weak spot in a tire. (assuming your tire and tube is aligned as it was before). Patching is also better because it uses far less resources.

I'm guessing that bike shops prefer replacing a tube as it is a much faster operation (unless the bike has a difficult to remove wheel like an internally geared hub with a coaster brake and you know where the puncture is already). And sometimes there is more than one hole, which would make for an expensive warranty repair if it wasn't caught the first time.

So yeah, anyway, the advice from the Brit in the video earlier in this thread totally worked for me and my difficult to mount RiBMo. I was able to get it on without any tools by seating the beads deep in the wheel and moving the slack up to the remaining part of the tire. Yay!

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Permalink Reply by Barry Niel Stuart on June 24, 2012 at 10:47am

I find replacing the tube more reliable than patching, especially with higher pressure tires like Gatorskins. Several bike shops have been collecting tubes for recycling. The neighborhood shop here in Milwaukee where I do much of my business does this. There should be quite a few in Chicago that do this.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 24, 2012 at 10:57am

A properly applied patch is just as strong as a brand new tube -more so, as the tube material is thicker in the patched area.

IMHO the reason a patch fails is many-fold:

Glue not allowed to dry fully
Glue not spread evenly, thin enough to dry fully, or over the entire area past where the patch will sit
Patch not centered over hole (holes)
Patch not the correct size -not large enough to cover hole(s) or too large for the size of a tiny tube
Surface not cleaned fully and/or sanded smooth over entire area of patch
Patch reverse surface contaminated by finger when peeled from plastic backing

It really is that easy. If done correctly the patch becomes part of the tube. But the #1 reason is failure to allow the glue to dry. I believe that is the classic n00b mistake. That's why I carry a spare tube and intend to patch the tube when I get home because it's sort of a PITA to patch a tube on the road/trail. But I also carry a patch kit unless that one new tube doesn't do me the first time. (like dug said, pinching the tube putting the bike back on or failing to find the true cause of the puncture in the tire and having it hole the tube again.